


late night confessions

by clawsnbeak



Series: Pynch Prompt Collection [6]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam Parrish Loves Ronan Lynch, Domestic Fluff, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love Confessions, M/M, Ronan Lynch Loves Adam Parrish, Sharing a Bed, Sleepovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, it's just a feel good thing you know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-02-01 00:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21301529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clawsnbeak/pseuds/clawsnbeak
Summary: Adam almost said something, almost turned around from the guilt bearing down on him, until he heard Ronan say something that made him freeze up completely.“I think I’m in love with you."
Relationships: Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Series: Pynch Prompt Collection [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1417012
Comments: 6
Kudos: 314





	late night confessions

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this for a prompt challenge and i had a bad fever while writing it but i like how it turned out

The little alarm on Adam’s bedside moving-box had just turned 2:21 AM when there was heavy knocking on his door. Granted, he had already been up, working on the English paper he had to submit the next day, but that didn’t stop him from getting annoyed that he was bothered at fucking almost 2:30 at night.

He still opened the door.

Ronan was dressed in full black as always, keeping him almost hidden in the dark of the hallway. Adam would recognise his form anywhere, though, and let him in without saying a word, stomping back to his bed where his old laptop was half-covered by the sheets he had thrown over it.

“In a bad mood, Parrish?”

Adam didn’t answer. Instead, he turned back to his half-finished essay and kept typing, his hands moving more furiously with every bored huff Ronan let out.

“You really are no fun,” Ronan said accusingly before letting himself fall back on the uneven wooden floor of St. Agnes, staring up at Adam from under his eyelashes.

Adam momentarily forgot his train of thought, every bit of the annoyance he felt before draining out of him. He could only stare at the shadows his long lashes casted on his sharp cheekbones. Then Ronan smirked sharply and the spell was broken. Anger rushed back into Adam, hitting him harder than it had before.

“Go then,” Adam sneered. “I’m not here to entertain you.”

Ronan raised his eyebrows in an unfiltered moment of pure shock before his walls rose up again and he went back to his casually indifferent self.

Despite Adam’s outburst, one he was already regretting but too prideful for to apologise, Ronan threw his jacket on the space next to Adam’s bed and threw himself on top of it. He immediately pulled his headphones from around his neck and put on his god awful music. Though the volume was lower this time, Adam could barely hear it over the soft hum of his laptop.

Instead of focussing on his essay, now that he had finally been given the chance, his mind was clogged with thoughts of Ronan and his considerateness. There was so much more to Ronan than what showed on the surface and at times like these, Adam didn’t understand why he ever hated him. Granted, that was at the beginning, when they had just met and Ronan was less than friendly to him. But now, with everything they had been through together and everything they would have to go through in the future, Ronan had softened up, though he would deny it if Adam ever brought it up.

Adam shook his head a little and refocused on the screen in front of him. He had to get this done now because he wouldn’t have the chance later. He had shoved school to the background already in lieu of searching for Glendower. The thought of not graduating, leaving this town and making something of himself tightened something in his chest.

He swiftly rubbed his eyes, feeling another pair landing on him. Adam looked up quickly but Ronan had turned away already.

And then there was the tumulus relationship or friendship or whatever it was with Ronan. His attention was not something Adam thought he deserved, but it got handed to him anyway. And now he doesn’t know how to act upon it. Deep down he had a feeling Ronan would never say it, not out loud at least. He did it through the hand-cream and the mixtape that was just the Murder Squash song played 12 times, or so he thought.

He listened to it once, when everything was too much and he was sitting in his car at night, trying not to cry about the money he didn’t have and the necessary supplies he couldn’t afford. He had expected the screeching noises that couldn’t really be called a song for the 13th time but instead a different song came on. It was softer with actual instrumentals instead of the techno stuff Ronan usually listened to. There was a man singing, not screaming, but actually singing.

It was about love.

Adam had started to look at Ronan differently after, but Ronan didn’t look back, not when Adam’s eyes were already on him. Somehow, whatever they had, felt like it was a secret they needed to keep, even from each other despite both of them _knowing_.

Adam was tired of keeping secrets.

Adam was tired in general. Just as he typed the last word of his essay, his eyes were starting to fall close. He handed it in quickly and closed his laptop, placing it on the box next to his bed, praying it would hold.

He climbed around Ronan, kicking him in the leg “on accident”. Ronan opened his eyes briefly to glare at Adam but went back to listening with his eyes closed almost immediately. He looked almost relaxed and much younger than he usually did. The sharp edges of his face were softened, even the harsh scars marring his eyebrow, his nose, his cheekbone, the scars that made him look that much more intimidating, were smoothed out until there were only faint lines left.

Adam averted his gaze quickly when he realised he was staring and went into his little bathroom to get ready. He washed his face, brushed his teeth, and dressed himself in some boxers and an oversized shirt he had found at Henrietta’s only second-hand store.

He kicked Ronan again on the way back, much like little boys pulled at girl’s pigtails in elementary school, though Adam would always deny that was the reasoning behind it. To him, he just liked fucking around with Ronan, pushing to see how far he could go before Ronan lost it.

Ronan never had.

Adam felt a sharp pang of pity and threw Ronan a blanket from his own bed, aiming it straight at his face. Ronan glared with a sharp intake of breath but he let it out and spread the blanket across his body.

As Adam laid down on his mattress, he was once again reminded at how close he and Ronan were lying together. There was not much height difference between the sunken-in mattress and the rotting floorboards of St. Agnes and Adam could almost imagine Ronan’s body heat on him. Not that he did imagine that, but he could.

Adam always had trouble sleeping when Ronan was so close, so he turned to the wall and let his breath even out. He tried his hardest to will himself into falling asleep, already having his too busy schedule in mind for the next day. There was work and then school, meeting with the others to search through another part of Cabeswater, work again, do homework after, wait until Ronan knocked again.

It just hit him then how much Ronan had become a part of his little routine. There was hardly a day that went by where Ronan wasn’t knocking at his door, searching for a way out of his never-ending nightmares.

Adam thought he heard a whisper, but he couldn’t be sure. Even with his hearing ear not covered, the sound was so faint Adam couldn’t be sure. So, he kept glaring at the wall, staying very still in case he would hear it again.

“Parrish?”

Ronan’s voice was soft but more audible now. There was something in his tone, something private and vulnerable. Adam had never heard Ronan sound this small. He waited, just to see if Ronan would speak up again.

He heard a sigh and then, “**Are you still awake?”**.

This would be the time for Adam to speak up, but he wanted to hear what Ronan would say in the safety of the darkness surrounding them. He wanted to know what secrets he would tell unconscious Adam even if it was a bit fucked up to do that to him.

Adam almost said something, almost turned around from the guilt bearing down on him, until he heard Ronan say something that made him freeze up completely.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Adam couldn’t hold the shuddering breath that was ripped out of him.

Ronan heard.

“What the fuck, Parrish?”

Adam turned around quickly, looking straight Ronan’s blazing eyes, his fury poorly hidden.

“I’m-“

Ronan threw his blanket off himself and gripped his jacket before he stood up and marched to the front door.

The sheets tangled around Adam’s feet when he rushed to go after him, nearly tripping him straight unto the floor. Once he got a holding on himself, Ronan was already half out of the door.

Adam quickly wrapped a hand around Ronan’s arm, pulling hard enough to turn him around. Ronan’s face was stone, his features carefully aligned so he looked more bored than upset. But Ronan’s eyes never really did hold a secret well. He wasn’t looking at Adam but his eyes were wide.

He looked _scared_ of him.

“The fuck do you want?” Ronan asked, still not looking at him no matter how much Adam pulled on his arm.

Adam raised a quick eyebrow, still not letting him go. “To talk maybe?”

“Hard pass.”

Ronan tried to yank his arm away but he wasn’t even using half the strength Adam knew he possessed. He didn’t know if it was because Ronan didn’t actually want to leave or because he didn’t want to hurt Adam. For either he was grateful.

“Ronan, it’s okay,” Adam tried but Ronan’s eyes hardened to match his face.

“Is it?” Ronan snarled, this time ripping his arm away with success. He didn’t move though, instead was standing in front of Adam, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Adam tried not to let his eyes linger but Ronan’s eyes were boring into him and that was not something he could take right now.

“I’m not angry.”

Ronan let out a humourless laugh. “Oh, thank the lord.”

“Ronan-“

“Just leave it, okay?” Ronan said pleadingly this time. He looked so desperate, Adam almost let him off the hook.

Almost.

Adam stepped a little closer. “What if I can’t do that?”

Ronan seemed taken aback but held his ground. The vulnerableness returned to his eyes and Adam reminded himself to be careful. Hurting Ronan wasn’t an option.

Adam softly laid his hands on Ronan’s arms, spreading his fingers when he felt Ronan’s muscles jump.

Ronan stared at him quietly for a few seconds before he leaned forward slightly. Adam’s heartbeat picked up, thrills shooting up his back at the prospect of what was going to happen.

“Please tell me I’m not wrong about this,” Ronan whispered.

Adam closed his eyes.

“You’re not.”

And then Ronan’s lips were on his. They were unmoving for a split-second, just to process what finally happened. Then Adam turned his head and moved his lips, letting out a quiet sigh.

Ronan’s arms unfurled and wrapped themselves around Adam’s waist bringing him closer. Adam was holding onto his neck for dear life, brushing through his buzzcut with one hand.

The kiss was soft and careful, just like Adam was expecting Ronan to kiss. Ronan was laid wide open before him and Adam was not surprised at what he was seeing. He felt right at home instead.

They untangled themselves and laughed sheepishly.

“Should we talk about this?” Adam asked, brushing his rumpled clothes nervously.

Ronan smiled openly, brighter than Adam had seen before. “In the morning.”

Adam took Ronan’s hand and laid next to him on his flimsy mattress. There would be a lot to figure out; what to say to the others, how this relationship would work at all, what they would do when Adam was leaving for university in less than a year. But for now, Adam basked in Ronan’s body heat against his back and went right to sleep, smiling as he did.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm clawsnbeak on tumblr!


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